Teen Kills 4; Judge LITERALLY Lets Him Off Because He is Rich

Crossposted on DKos

I wish this was a snark. But this is so shocking it makes me ill.

16-year old Ethan Couch was driving drunk at THREE times the legal limit and had Valium in his system. He plowed into four people going 70 miles per hour in a 40 mile per hour zone, killing them. Other victims are severely injured; one has severe brain damage. Even after he killed and maimed those people, he was uncooperative and combative with the emergency services and walked away from the police saying "I'm outta here".

He pleaded guilty, of course. But Ethan's parents are very wealthy. (We are talking the 1%.) They hired an attorney that brought on a psychologist to say Couch was "a product of wealth" and was used to getting "whatever he wanted". Because he was so affluent and accustomed to never having consequences, the attorney argued that he should get therapy as opposed to jail.

This was the argument, mind you, used in the defense:

He said Couch got whatever he wanted. As an example, Miller said Couch's parents gave no punishment after police ticketed the then-15-year-old when he was found in a parked pickup with a passed out, undressed 14-year-old girl.

Miller also pointed out that Couch was allowed to drive at 13. He said the teen was emotionally flat and needed years of therapy. At the time of the fatal wreck, Couch had a blood alcohol content of .24, said Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson. It is illegal for a minor to drive with any amount of alcohol in his or her system.

Prosecutors tried to get 20 years. The Defense argued for therapy and probation.

Texas State District Judge Jean Boyd bought the inane "I'm too rich for consequences" defense and actually sided with the Defense and gave him probation:

(Video of the breaking news report. Includes talk with a victim's family member.)

The kid is not remorseful in the slightest. I'm sure he always expected to get off. He always has before. Meanwhile, the victim's families are devastated.

Tell me again how there are NOT two Americas and two sets of rules.

Look at this lady, this young man, and this poor kid. Notice a theme?

Judge Jean didn't concern herself with rehabilitation and well-being when it was a 14-year old black kid who punched a guy who fell down and died. 10 years.

Does anyone for a second think if this kid was poor and black he would not be facing death row?

After all, Texas executed this guy even though he was mentally retarded. Yet that's never been a legitimate defense in Texas.

But apparently, if you are white and superich, "affluenza" now is.

Disgraceful.

Take action: The father is owner/president of Cleburne Sheet Metal, the truck the kid was driving was a company truck "entrusted" to this kid by his dad. What makes this story even worse is that apparently they built a lot of their wealth with taxpayer money/government contracts. The local representative is Kay Granger. Let her know NO More Government Contracts for this company! (Zip code is 76135 to leave a message).

Update: CNN picked up the story and as usual, left a lot out. Nothing of his action at the scene, or since, or his past history. As a result there are several comments expressing sympathy for what he must be going through. At least they covered it finally unlike other outlets.

Update: $450,000 for therapy. Check out his prison.

BUSTED: Rick Scott's Chief of Staff Caught Lying About His Education

#78 of the MY STUPID STATE series

The Miami Hearld busted Adam Hollingsworth, the latest Rick Scott top aide to be embroiled in scandal, for lying about his academic credentials.

Hollingsworth didn’t just verbally deceive people. He twice explicitly allowed his former employer, CSX Corporation, to issue press releases in 1998 and 2002 saying he graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree.

"I am not proud of this and I deeply apologize for this misrepresentation. I have learned from this failure in judgment and know that, over the last several years, my life and character have and will continue to grow from this."

This is a character issue. He has shown he has no trouble deceiving people if he can get away with it. (I guess that's a prerequisite for working for Scott.) Hollingsworth left CSX abrutly and the article quotes a source who said his lying was part of the reason he left.

Considering his boss was involved with the largest Medicare fraud in US history, I suppose he wasn't worried about his ethical issues being a problem in Rick Scott's regime. He was right.

Rick Scott said in a statement he had "confidence in Adam as my chief of staff, and my friend … I know him to be a man of tremendous integrity and character."

Which is fine for someone who has no freaking clue what those qualities are.

It is typical in the trend of the top aides Rick Scott surrounds himself with. Consider just this past year:

Tony Bennett, Commissioner of Education, resigned in Aujust for changing grades to help his charter schools.

Hunting Dewutch, Department of Economic Opportunity Director, quit in when he was discovered collecting unemployment beneftits while going on aspending spree in Europe before he was hired.

Jennifer Carroll, Lt. Gov., had numerous scandals. (This is even more remarkable since this position literally has no responsibilities whatsoever.) However, she was finally done in earlier this year after she was investigated for PR work she did for an illegal gambling outfit that pretended to be a nonprofit Veteran's charity.

Ever since Carroll resigned in March in disgrace, the position has remained vacant. Scott wanted to take his time and promote someone that he thinks has "integrity and character". Wonder who that is?

You. Guessed. It!

Video: How The Media (and Conservatives) Failed Women In 2013

Crossposted to DKos

It's a little over 3 minutes. Well worth your time. Woman have come far this year, and have far to go.

The video was made by the Representation Project and showcases two stories: How far a woman can go despite the obstacles given her; and how despicable some people continue to be.

Naturally, you will see the ongoing despicable sexualization for profit that still infects American marketing. However its around 1:25, after Rush Limbaugh (of course) rears his ugly head, that I couldn't help but notice the parade of ignorance coming from clips with the Fox News logo ("Women just haven't done that much"; "I'm not saying she deserved to be raped, BUT..."). Followed by quotes from GOP politicians, GOP strategists, conservative PACs, conservative talk show hosts and the right-wing media.

And the year isn't even over yet and conservatives are still going strong with their ignorance. Just TODAY on FOX a career-minded woman was told to quit her job and have babies.

To be clear, this video was not made to attack conservatives. Seth McFarlane, the Onion, CNN, and others are taken to task... but it comes as no surprise that the majority of ignorance on women's issues come from the right. I applaud the creators for not trying to present a "false equivalence" that is so prevalent in the mainstream media. If it was a Democratic Congressman who told the female news anchor, "You're beautiful, but you have to be honest", it would have been shown. But naturally, it was a GOP blowhard who was actually much more patronizing than was shown.

Take a look. Click here if the embed link below is not showing up.

S.C. Sheriff Refuses Executive Order to Fly Flag at Half-Staff

Crossposted on Dkos

From Pickens County, SC sheriff Rick Clark's Facebook post:

I usually don't post political items, but today is different. I received this notification today, "As a mark of respect for the memory of Nelson Mandela, the President orders that the flag of the United States be flown at half-staff effective immediately until sunset, December 9, 2013.

Nelson Mandela did great things for his country and was a brave man but he was not an AMERICAN!!! The flag should be lowered at our Embassy in S. Africa, but not here. Our flag is at half staff today for a Deputy in the low country who died going to help his fellow Deputy. He deserves the honor. I have ordered that the flag here at my office back up after tomorrow's mourning of Pearl Harbor Day!

First off... classy. You claim you don't ever post about politics but Obama's decision to honor an African who fought oppression was so egregious in your mind you had to speak out? Really? That crossed the line for you?

Second. You are completely ignorant of the flag code. (I probably could have ended that sentence after the word "ignorant".) If you bothered to read it before you posted, you would see the president has the authority to direct the flag be flown at half-staff for the death of foreign dignitaries. Up until today, it has never been contested.

Third. Its not like this is unprecedented. In 1981, President Reagan ordered the flag be flown at half-staff for Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt and a Muslim! (gasp) Clinton did the same to honor Yitzhak Rabin, prime minister of Israel in 1995 after his unfortunate assassination. He did so again in 1999 for King Hussein of Jordan. W gave the order for Pope John Paul II.

Unlike all of these other leaders, Nelson had a tremendous impact on American activism, politics, and pop culture. He deserves our flag to be at half-staff.

Right now, national flags are flying at half-staff all around the world. I would also note that these foreign nations did the same for us on 9/11.

But this isn't about Mandela. This also isn't about standing up for your right to..... seriously, what is it exactly you are standing up for? Your right to fuck up the flag code? To be a dickwad?

This isn't even about Obama. No, what this guy clearly wants is to seek higher office: and nothing salivates an uneducated teabagger than a bigoted slap in the face of the president. This guy is already a hero in wingnut circles who enjoy calling Nelson Mandela, a guy who helped bring a peaceful end to apartheid, a "terrorist". This from the very people who call for the violent overthrow of our government because a black man is trying to give them healthcare.

Thank you Rick. For a moment, I was worried about you challenging that southern, redneck sheriff stereotype....

(And well played, SC. Your move Florida....)

Sat Dec 07, 2013 at 11:37 AM PT: The post appeared on his facebook page but I'd let him know what an insult this is on the Pickens Co Sheriff's FB Page or leave feedback on his website.

History Textbook Acknowledges Islam, FL GOP Goes ApeS&*t

#76 from the MY STUPID STATE series

Volusia County is a large swing county here in Florida. As usual, there are more registered Dems than GOP, but it tends to elect conservatives. The county went for Mitt (albeit just barely) in 2012, and all of the state legislators in that country are GOP. Yet given that there are many Dems here you would think moderate voices would prevail. You would think wrong.

The moderate chairman of the Volusia Co. GOP was ousted in favor of a crazed, teabagger wingnut named Tony Ledbetter. Once elected he sent out press releases demanding $11 million in cuts to the County, even though he was told by all sides that his calculations were way off and to get bent. He consistently organized protests against a variety of conservative bogeymen, like taxes and the latest one--Common Core Standards. Yet, they flopped miserably.

Ledbetter suddenly became a sensation in wingnuttia. He was invited to rant on FoxNews (of course), hate radio jumped into the mix, the rightwing sphere of the interwebs blew up, and Ledbetter's protests suddenly swelled with Glen Beck's rejects demanding our schools be protected from factual textbooks.

Megyn Kelly of course picked up the story, reporting in all seriousness that the wingnut parents were simply demanding to rip out the offending pages of the textbook until a suitable replacement could be found. I suppose book burning would be a little too on the nose.

One hate site supporting Ledbetter, which features the lovely photo of the GOP chair below yelling at a Muslim, claims that the textbook is full of omissions and errors that favor Islam over other religions like Christianity and Judaism. Never you mind that Christianity is referenced throughout the entire book far more than Islam. Never mind that the GOP can't find ONE damn statement to point to that is untrue or offensive.

Would be helpful of the lady holding the sign could point out just one wrong thing in the textbook

I have looked all over the internets and the youtubes for just one of these totebags to provide one example--just one. Since the wingnuts all are claiming it "indoctrinates" students and the book is "filled with lies"... surely you can provide ONE freaking sentence? How about it Megyn?

Alas, none is provided. Because its a damned textbook. It gives timelines, dates, and actual history. And because its a book, the hatemongers don't have to worry about their target audience actually bothering to read any of it. They were TOLD the book is a lie: and for those dumb enough to get their "news" from Rush and Fox, that's good enough.

As Ormond Beach Mayor Ed Kelley said:

"Why are people against things when they don't know what the thing they're against is?"

Because your local party is a microcosm of the national party: filled with ignorant jagoffs, Ed.

The only argument I can find that the book contains indoctrination or is untruthful is that it doesn't spend the whole chapter in a Mein Kampf-like fashion bashing Muslims. The hate site BareNaked Islam quoted several protesters who explain the mindset:

"This book is ridiculously biased. The whole history of Muslim is violence"--Armando Escalante of Port Orange

"This is a vanilla history,” said Joel Paige of New Smyrna Beach.

Walter Hanford said the book “whitewashes” the history of Islam and its Muslim followers, including involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas.

Imagine the outcry if a textbook only spoke of Christianity in terms of the violence--the crusades or the bombing of Oklahoma. Suppose it only spoke of the hate-filled Christians, like these guys or of Rev. Phelps and his gayfolk-hating ilk. I can imagine phrases in the book like "And therefore we can objectively conclude that Christianity is the root of all evil" or "What is it about Christianity that takes otherwise intelligent people and turn them into raving heathens?"

Of course, then it wouldn't be a textbook anymore......just biased, hate-filled propaganda. People would be justifiably outraged. Yet that is EXACTLY what they want to happen with this textbook and Islam. The parents are infuriated because the textbook is written in a neutral fashion (like any textbook should be), and it is somehow the equivalent of indoctrination and smears. The mere acknowledgment of the second largest religion in the world cannot occur without condemnation in the mind of your average teabagger.

I'm sure these protestor's kids get to learn plenty about bigotry and hatred at home.. they don't need a textbook to do it for them. This is evidenced by the hatefully scribed thoughts from local GOPers on a lot of these sites saying Islam is evil and their followers need to be wiped off the Earth. I was going to cut and paste a few, but why bother. You can find them everywhere anytime the topic of Islam and tolerance is brought up.

The irony here is that since there is so much fiction presented about Islam, mostly by people like Ledbetter and his hate group followers, it makes teaching about other religions and cultures even more critical. Teaching facts is not the same as indoctrination. I can't imagine one person has ever converted to another religion by reading facts in a textbook. Hell, in my American History class back in the 1980s, my textbook had several pages devoted to the freaking Ku Klux Klan! For some reason I learned about their history, structure, "konklaves", and other nonsense. I never thought "Hey, I'd like to dress up like an idiot and be part of that". Although it was talked about in a historical context, I think I could have made a pretty good argument that we didn't need to know so much about an outdated hate group--but I had more important issues to concern myself with during that time in my life (like my Pac-man score and when to ask Debbie Peterson out).

But Islam, unlike the Klan, is actually relevant. It has billions of followers. It guides the policies of large swaths of the world populace, including nations that America has to deal with quite a bit. OF COURSE you should f&*king at least know the basics so you can be informed. It would benefit them a lot more than learning about an American hate group, but I'm willing to bet any amount of money that if the book had a chapter devoted to the KKK instead they never would have had a problem with it. After all, the Klan's membership thrives on ignorance: which is the same quality that drives membership in today's GOP.

UPDATE: I failed to mention that, without a hint of irony, the Volusia School Board was forced to cancel their meeting because of violent threats against them. This link also includes video of Ledbetter's intellectual argument with a Muslim.

Florida Police Arrest, Jail, Harass Innocent Black Man 258 Times

#75 from the My Stupid State series

Earl Sampson has been stopped and questioned by Miami Gardens police 258 times in 4 years, on average more than once a week. He has been arrested 62 times for trespassing: at the store he WORKS AT!

The store's owner, Alex Saleh, had enough of the racial profiling of his employees and customers. He installed 15 surveillance cameras--not to protect his store from criminals (he has never been robbed) but because of the cops' non-stop harassment of Sampson and others. The Miami Herald has a series of clips from these videos that show how blatant they are. You'll see Earl Sampson just taking out the garbage, and as soon as he gets back in the store, he is pulled out forcibly by the cop and arrested.

Even though the store owner is there and repeatedly tells the cops he is an employee, they arrest him anyway.

I said, 'I'm the owner, let him go. I work here.' The officer said, 'Yeah right.'

Most of us have never been stopped and searched by police, let alone hundreds of times. Miami Gardens Police Chief Matthew Boyd needs to be fired. There is no way he didn't know about this. The cops need to be fired and sued. I am glad the store owner and his attorneys are filing a civil suit. Being a former cop myself, this type of behavior fills me with rage. They are harassing the very people they need to be protecting.

The store owner is a brave man for standing up for the rights of his customers and employees. According to the Huffington Post, he has been repeatedly threatened and harassed by the Miami Gardens PD since this story broke. I know there are some in my state who would disagree with me, but the fact of the matter is being a minority is not a crime. Even if you are from Florida.

12:58 PM PT: Local News Report:

6:38 PM PT: The police chief will be stepping down

McDonald's Tells Workers To Sell Xmas Presents To Pay Bills

A month ago McDonald's executives were raked over the coals for fighting tooth and nail to not raise their employees pay, despite record profits and outrageous executive salaries, for telling employees on their McResource Line that they were poor enough to apply for food stamps and possibly Medicaid. I guess the first clue that you are not paying your employees enough is that your company even has a "resource line" for impoverished employees. But to be fair, if I was an overpaid, entitled executive making 8 million instead of 7 bucks, I might be a little tone deaf too. What I cannot understand is that after such an obvious PR fiasco, why on earth would executives decide to sign off on even MORE "helpful" advice to their poverty-stricken workers on that site? Yet that is exactly what they did, with helpful nuggets like:

"Sing away stress"

A clever way to stretch out food for your family...

"Breaking food into pieces often results in eating less and still feeling full"

...and quit your bitching...

"Quit Complaining
Stress hormone levels rise by 15% after 10 minutes of complaining"

(We told you to get food stamps and sing!! What else do you want!?) But this is my favorite. Did mommy splurge and buy her kid toys for Christmas?

"..do whatever it takes to dig out from your Holiday debt. You may also want to consider returning some of your unopened purchases that may not seem as appealing as they did. Selling some of your unwanted possessions on eBay or Craigslist could bring in some quick cash."

I'm lovin' it!! The quotes came from this new video, which shows screen captures of the McResource Line. (The video puts them to a pretty catchy tune). Watch and share the video, and then sign the petition at http://lowpayisnotok.org/

Merry Xmas Y'all!

Make Black Friday A Federal Holiday One Week Before Thanksgiving

In this country, the day after Thanksgiving is often regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. When I was growing up, the department store Thanksgiving Day parades that always included Santa at the end marked the official start of said season. Back then, no store wanted to be accused of starting Christmas season advertising before then. Obviously today, that code of etiquette is very quaint. I challenge you to go into any mall in early November and not see Christmas decorations. Normally, stores decorate during the first week of November with only the merchandizing of Halloween preventing them from appearing even earlier.

But very recently there has been a much more important issue than early holiday decorations.

Black Friday sort of snowballed into an unofficial holiday. The day after Thanksgiving was always the start of the shopping season, but smart merchants decided to capitalize on that by offering "door busters"--a few insane deals that only a few customers could get but would result in a frenzy of shopping. This meant that customers would line up in front of their stores hours earlier for these deals. This phenomenon caught on across the country.

For years, most retailers would start this practice around 6am the day of Black Friday. But in the bid to be first, each year a major chain would open just a little earlier, until midnight was the norm. Then, in 2011, for the first time, Walmart began their Black Friday sales on the actual Thanksgiving Day. Walmart, never known to be a bastion of worker care, started at 10pm that day. There were outcries, but sure enough, others followed suit. Last year, Walmart moved it back to 8 p.m. and their competitors, like Kmart, Sears, and Toys "R" Us, opened around the same time on Thanksgiving Day.

And here we are in 2013, with most stores starting their Black Friday sales this afternoon or evening. Kmart, in fact, started at 6am this morning!! I have no doubt that Thanksgiving will be replaced by "Black Thursday", which is quickly becoming the norm. What this means is that merchant's employees are going to be slammed with customers on the one day meant to be with their families. This is not to mention the millions of people who are forgoing time with their families to take part in the traditional shopping frenzy.

The quaint notion that we have a day with our families and then shopping the next day is gone. The genie will never go back into the bottle--we cannot expect that stores in these fiercely economic competitive times to simply close their doors and wait until 6am Black Friday when all others have started. This holiday happened by accident--it was a day when most people had off for shopping and markets offered great deals, so it snowballed into something huge. Black Friday is now threatening to overtake a great American holiday set aside for giving thanks. But there is a solution I'd like to propose.

Let's agree to take Thanksgiving out of the equation entirely. I propose we move Black Friday to the Friday BEFORE Thanksgiving. Let's make Black Friday the official kickoff to the shopping season. The holiday decorations battle we already lost and conceded years ago... but now America's obsession with great bargains is threatening Thanksgiving itself and hurting workers, customers, and their families. So let's have a day where we can celebrate American capitalism, give the stores the boost they need, customers the deals they want, and workers the overtime they deserve but not have it cut into the Thanksgiving holiday.

How could this be done? Congress could declare the Friday before Thanksgiving "Black Friday". Ideally, they would give federal employees the day off, and I expect eventually the non-retail private sector would eventually follow suit. Even if the day isn't off, (and that is probably unlikely given that Election Day is more important and that day isn't off), just the formal declaration would take any weirdness of starting a week earlier and put all the major chains on the same page. The prospect of starting the shopping season one week earlier is something I'm certain they would JUMP at.

Sure, there will still be shopping the day after Thanksgiving, but the frenzy and craziness that threatens to consume Thanksgiving would have passed in the previous week.

Folks, I'm just brainstorming here. I do think its an idea worth considering. I'm curious to know what you think. Please leave a comment, or write your own solution.

Thank you, and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Rick Scott Makes Voting Harder for His Former Rival's Election

I, (along with Rachel Maddow), have probably beaten to death all the conniving ways Rick Scott has used to make elections as hard and miserable for his opponents as possible. If you haven't heard his name associated with his infamous purges and suppression laws, then you just simply have never heard his name before. He was so bad that Ken Browning, our former SecState, resigned rather than purge thousands of innocent voters (which his replacement, Ken Detzner, gladly tried to do with 182,000 innocent Floridians).

Now a reasonable person would think that someone like Rick Scott, who knows his reelection is less than a year away, would at least attempt to appear reasonable, but teabag governors are like snakes in that they can't help their nature.

You see, due to the death of Rep. Bill Young (R), there's a special election coming up soon in Congressional District 13. This district has been pretty solid GOP for over a decade but has gotten less so: last year Obama won the district by one percentage point. Although a Democrat hasn't held this seat in years, the Dem candidate for this race has a great shot: Alex Sink. Sink is not only Scott's onetime gubernatorial opponent, she is also a personal rival of Rick Scott who has been a persistent critic since the election. As our former state CFO she has now had two elections as a statewide candidate. Sink is very well known, a prolific fundraiser, and personally still very popular: especially given the statewide buyer's remorse Floridians feel for deciding to roll the dice with the criminal.

So lessee... you have a winnable Dem candidate, a district losing its red hue, and worst of all, an election supervisor who actually does her f#%$ing job. Deborah Clark was preparing to send out thousands of absentee ballots to voters in the upcoming special election for this district. She had already reminded voters about the mail ballot dropoff locations and was prepared to staff them with employees-also willing to do their jobs and assist. She and other elections supervisors have done this for years.

Those of us who actually pay attention to Florida politics joked that Scott would try to do something underhanded. But we were wrong. It was pretty damn blatant:

Detzner issued an order to supervisors Monday, telling them they "should not solicit return of absentee ballots at any place other than a supervisor's office." The directive appeared to take dead aim at one supervisor, Deborah Clark in Pinellas, who aggressively promotes voting absentee and has a small network of remote drop-off locations to make it easier for people to turn in their absentee ballots.

District 13 uses more absentee ballots than any other district in the state.

And here we have a directive aimed at curbing participation for this one election. Who knew?

It gets better.

The Pasco County Supervisor of Elections, Brian Corley, was livid about this move. He called it "pathetic" and said that "the timing stinks right here." No one has ever had issues with having dropboxes. He and others demanded answers.

The response? Because Brian Corley wanted it.

Detzner issued a statement saying the directive was " a clarification of existing law that was initiated by questions from supervisors of elections". When asked by the Times/Herald what supervisors and what questions, they were pointed to an email from Brian Corley from September about an error in the language of the 2014 state voter registration guide.

But the two supervisors that Detzner’s office said asked for the directive, Corley and Chris Chambless of Clay County, both Republicans, both denied they had asked for it and said Detzner’s interpretation of the law is wrong.

“I was merely trying to bring to their attention an error in their (voter registration) guide,” said Pasco Supervisor Brian Corley. “Somehow that got twisted into me asking for an opinion.”

Corley was quick to respond.

When you are being attacked by elections supervisors in your own party, you are doing something wrong. It is clear to anyone with half a brain what Scott is trying to do.

But Scott thinks we are dumb. After all, we did elect him in the first place.

SNL: "NEVER Come to Florida!"

How bad is it to be a law enforcement officer in Florida under Rick Scott's regime?

Bad enough to be the opening sketch for SNL last night.

"With George Zimmerman the subject of yet another police investigation, many are wondering why he is not in jail. Here to explain is FL police chief Mike Davis. Mr Davis, how are you doing?"

"Well, I'm a police officer in Florida, so lemme see, NOT GOOD!!!"

Saturday Night Live did a hilarious cold open last night which mocked George Zimmerman and our hapless police in the face of conservative policies. Take a look:

(If the embed is not working, click here).

Florida has one of the most lax concealed gun laws in the nation ( Zimmerman most likely still has his concealed gun permit). We also have laws that force employers to allow their employees to bring guns to work on their private property, Docs vs. Glocks, and a blanket ban on all city and county gun ordinances.

Then there's our infamous Stand Your Ground law you may have heard about, which was based on the American Legal Exchange Council (ALEC) model law that, as written, allowed Zimmerman to pursue and murder an unarmed Travoyn Martin in the first place. The law bans police from arresting people who use deadly force in public unless there is probable cause that they did not act in response to a "perceived threat", which can be pretty much anything. Hell, Zimmerman could have even sued the Sanford PD for being arrested in the first place.

Throw on top of this Rick Scott's gutting of FL police forces, you have the makings of a national parody of our state that is funny to the rest of the nation but a living nightmare for those of us who have to live here.

Palin Asked for Her Alternative to ACA; She NAILS It!

To all you haters out there: You gotta hand it to Lady Blah-Blah. Going on the lamestream media to face the wrath of the liberal machine, surely she knew that she was going to be asked about her plans for an alternative to the program she has been railing against for months. And in typical Palin fashion, she studied hard and prepared a perfect response to the liberal, socialist/fascist health-care huggers.

Just kidding.

Warning: you may need to play it several times to attempt to decipher the incoherent, rambling Palin gibberish session. But as you learned in English class, the more words you use in a sentence, the more intelligent you sound.

I give you Palin, unedited.

Matt Lauer: "What are we hearing from the Tea Party in terms of an absolute, realistic plan that can be an alternative to Obamacare?"

Without even thinking, Palin sprung into action:

Said Palin: "The plan is to allow those things that had been proposed over many years to reform a health-care system in America that certainly does need more help so that there's more competition, there's less tort reform threat, there's less trajectory of the cost increases, and those plans have been proposed over and over again. And what thwarts those plans? It's the far left. It's President Obama and his supporters who will not allow the Republicans to usher in free market, patient-centered, doctor-patient relationship links to reform health care."

Got that?

Matt Lauer, clearly not interested in deciphering any of that and not wanting to make her feel bad, simply said "L-L-Let's move on. Let's talk about Chris Christie? Boy, he had a massive win!"

Really, it was a softball interview and Matt Lauer was an embarrassment. You can't appreciate how bad he was until you listen to him immediately after she said that ball of stupid. She has had months to think of a coherent response to what an alternative would be (and its not like she has had any real work to do). A REAL journalist would have called her out on what she said: "What plans are you talking about that have been proposed over and over? How is the ACA not free market?"

Or just "I'm sorry, I didn't understand any of that. What?"

But asking for clarification wouldn't be fair to her fans. After all, this isn't a real news program, its a talk show interview. So let's move on to an easy question. And don't you have a book to plug?

In fact, don't waste your time on the whole interview. The today show is a joke. Just enjoy 1:37-2:31. You will pine for the intellect of Quayle and Bush.

Because as bad as our leaders can be, I am proud to say that at the very least they can put a coherent sentence together.

Rick Scott: Friend of Hispanics

Crossposted on DailyKos

Nancy Smith of Sunshine State News attempted to showcase Rick Scott's Hispanic outreach and smear his potential rival, Charlie Crist. The first argument went along the assinine line that Hispanics were peeved that Charlie tried to "undermine" (re: beat in an election) his two rivals in the 2010 Senate election. His two rivals being a black man (Kendrick Meeks) and an Hispanic man (Marco Rubio), which meant that trying to win the election "smacked of racial insensitivity". The article then moves on to say Rick Scott's Hispanic judicial appointments were on par with Crist, and when Scott passed over qualified Hispanics he had him some good reasons. Oh, and Scott plans to have a super-duper outreach to the millions of Hispanics in Florida.

Scott has always maintained with conviction that he is proud of Florida's Hispanic community, admires its spirit and sense of loyalty, and values its contribution.

"He's not flashy, he's quiet about it," said an aide to a Hispanic House member, "but when you're around Rick Scott enough you know he's pro-Hispanic all the way. He listens to us and he gets a lot of his ideas from us. I think his term has been like a partnership with the Hispanic community.

So there you have it. Rick Scott. Friend of Hispanics.

Case closed.

Now I'm just a blogger. I don't have the journalistic credentials like Ms. Smith. But if it pleases the Court, I would like to introduce a little balance in the article with five qualifying rebuttal points using a tool those of us in the blogging industry call "the Google". If you will allow me:

1. Friend of Hispanics, Rick Scott, Vetoes Driver's License Bill For NO REASON!

Even in our wacky, teabag conservative legislature, the state senate passed a bill that would have allowed children of undocumented aliens to obtain temporary Florida driver's licenses 36-0. The even teabaggier House passed it 115-2. It was a slam dunk.

Yet Scott Vetoed It.

He never gave a reason. It passed with such a margin that it would be overridden, and yet he vetoed it just to be a dick.

Said state sen. Soto: “Simply unconscionable, it’s a[n] .... anti-Hispanic move."

2. FoH Rick Scott Tried to Purge THOUSANDS of Hispanic Voters

Such is the case in Florida. Of the 180,000 potential noncitizens identified for purging in 2012, less than 0.02% were actually ineligible. Nearly 60 percent of those included in the initial list were Hispanic – meanwhile, Hispanic voters make up only 13 percent of Florida’s electorate.

Only about 60 were legitimate out of Scott's initial 182,000 purges. Keep in mind millions of Floridians voted.

And Sick Rott has promised to try again in 2014.

3. Study Showed that Florida Hispanics Waited in Longest Lines To Vote Thanks to FoH Rick Scott

Scott signed a sweeping voter suppression act during his first full year as governor. Many polling places throughout South Florida were eliminated, along with early-voting days. A study by the Advancement Project found that out of all the ethnic groups, it was Hispanic voters who waited the longest. In Miami-Dade, the average time was 73 minutes. There were reports of people waiting up to EIGHT freaking hours to vote. Other highlights from the study showed that Hispanic voters were more likely to have to use a provisional ballot and almost twice as likely to have those ballots rejected.

4. FoH Scott Supported AZ-Style Anti-Brown Bill... That Exempted Caucasians!

GOP chairman of the House Judiciary committee, William Snyder, proposed a law that would allow police to harass people "suspected" of being here illegally yet specifically exempt Canadians and Western Europeans to ensure only the appropriate "brown-people" minority would be targeted. (This was the closest to saying "leave Whitey alone" and get away with it). He even admitted it wasn't about "rule of law" or "jobs" but was worried about what was happening to our country.

This law was too bigoted for even for the Florida legislature, but Rick Scott not only supported it, he embraced it and promised to sign it if it made it to his desk.

5. Spent Tax Money to Fight Latino Resident Citizens from Claiming In-State Tuition!

Our tax dollars went to defend what the judge correctly described as a "blatantly unconstitutional" policy to deny American citizens the right to in-state tuition unless their parents could prove legal residency. The US District Court judge even lectured the state for trying to take their rights away. But that didn't stop Rick Scott. Its not his money.

Mind you I am only bringing up points specific to the Hispanic community. The attacks on healthcare, education, the environment, the middle class, etc. etc., no doubt affect the Hispanic community as well everyone else and are reason enough alone to know that Rick Scott is not your friend. But the fact that he goes out of his way to piss on a particular minority group cannot be glossed over with token appointments and a few ads.

But I'm just a blogger. What do I know.

Rick Scott Decries Gov. Waste While Taking 800K for "Decadent" Mansion Upgrades

Crossposted to Daily Kos

Florida Executive Asshat Rick Scott announced this week he would seek to cut $100 million in "government waste". To a rich criminal like Rick Scott, "government waste" means things that rich people don't need, such as the millions he cut in children's medical services, which devastated struggling families with special-needs kids. Or the billions in education. Or health care.

But here is one thing that isn't wasteful. His F*%*ING HOUSE.

Never mind Sick Rott already has a private mansion paid for by his millions in Medicare fraud. No, he needs a gaudy upgrade to the Florida Governors Mansion, and hasn't footed any of the bill:

Since Gov. Rick Scott took office in 2010, more than $800,000 has gone toward upgrades to his decadent Greek Revival mansion, including cleaning oriental rugs, refinishing the floors and maintaining the grounds, the Associated Press reports.

Some of that money did come from lobbyists and corporate donors, of course, but the overwhelming majority came from the taxpayers.

His spokesman pointed out that Charlie Crist spent money on renovations as well. To be fair, he did: $27 thousand during his entire term. And Jebbie made security upgrades when he served during 9/11.

But Scott's wife, Ann, fancies herself an interior designer and had run her own design company with her husband's ill-gotten moolah before they got into the Teabag racket. An itemized list for the mansion included almost 40K for new furniture, pillows, drapes, gaudy as hell and expensive wallpaper, rugs, floors, and paint.

This did not include the $2000 mirror for Ann's private bathroom.

How a mirror can cost 2K is as mind boggling as how anyone would think they needed one. It's in the damn bathroom for crying out loud!

But just like Trump, no amount of money can buy class.

Idiot Teabag Rep Yoho Says Default Will "Bring Stability to World Markets"!

Every single economic expert, even Republican leadership like Bonerhead, are saying that a failure to raise the debt ceiling and pay off the debts that CONGRESS has already incurred will trigger a massive financial catastrophe. Not just for our nation, but the world economy as well.

I challenge you to find one economist who thinks that defaulting on the debt would be a good thing.

But in the right-wing idiot echo chamber, where polls are “skewed”, scientific facts are challenged, and reality is a liberal conspiracy, teabaggers hold a different view.

Of course, one of the worst of these idiots is an elected official from, where else, my stupid state of Florida. Rep. Ted Yoho actually told the the Washington Post that defaulting on the debt (which, by the way, has never happened before in our history) would be just find and dandy because:

"I think, personally, it would bring stability to the world markets"

Ted Yoho was the Tea Party/Koch backed candidate who defeated Cliff Stearns in 2012. He also made headlines earlier for comparing himself to Rosa Parks and MLK for standing up for people’s right to be denied access to affordable health care. (That’s what those guys were known for, right?)

So what we have learned so far:

1. The shutdown is really just a harmless "slimdown" (trademark Fox) and shows how much waste there is in government! 2. The default of our nation's debt is great and will bring stability to the world markets! 3. The GOP is great for doing this and standing up for the right-wing American people, which puts them on par with our civil rights leaders! 4. And............ it's all OBAMA's fault!!

I know, it doesn't make sense. But it doesn't have to in Teabag land.

6:53 PM PT: Ted Yoho, enjoying 174k a year with gold-plated healthcare, standing up for the little guy. Drop a line on his facebook: https://www.facebook.com/... and thank him. Or you could contact him by email or phone here

Teabag Rep. Says He Needs His Salary During Shutdown to Pay for His "Nice House"!

No words: JUST WOW

Omaha World Hearld asked Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb) if he was going to keep his $174,000 salary during the shutdown. “DANG STRAIGHT” was the answer.

"Whatever gets them good press. That's all that it's going to be. God bless them. But you know what? I've got a nice house and a kid in college, and I'll tell you we cannot handle it. Giving our paycheck away when you still worked and earned it? That's just not going to fly."

I would wager that the 800,000 people he just laid off were doing REAL work and were, unlike him, doing their jobs and actually earning their pay: and they make barely a fraction of what he makes. They don't have "nice houses", but they do have mortgages and rent to pay, food to buy, and sick kids to take care of.

But screw 'em. The only salaries the teabaggers in government are fighting for are their own. It never ceases to amaze me how these very teabaggers who scream about how much they hate their government are the ones most dependent on their government dole... not to mention the Washington perks that come with it which apparently includes getting drunk and partying with female lobbyists.

The cognitive dissonance of these baggers is sickening... but that's assuming they ever gave a crap at all about anyone but themselves.

His office number is 402-397-9944. His email is here and his Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/leeterry. He had a very close election last time, winning by less than 3% points. Omaha! Make sure you turnout and send him back to enjoy his big, nice home next year!

Remember When the Dems Shut Down the Economy Over Gun Control?

The year was 2007. Nancy Pelosi tells Bush she will NOT pass a budget unless he agrees to sign comprehensive gun control legislation.

OR, its 2005. Democrats say we will default on our debt unless Bush agrees to pull ALL of our troops out of Iraq.

OR its today. Harry Reid tells the House he'll give in to some demands, but demands in return that the House pass pro-choice legislation.

And each time we complained and whined that the GOP will not "negotiate" with us. .

Because that, my friends, is EXACTLY what the GOP is asking of us.

The House GOP refuses to do their most fundamental job of passing a damn budget, of which they are both handsomely paid and get gold-plated healthcare coverage, unless they can implement their failed platform that they lost the election over--and lost BIG I might add.

The tea party anarchists want to COMPLETELY change the way we do government. If a small fringe group of one party in one House doesn't like a law? Or WANTS a law passed? There is NOW precedent to shut down the government over it.

Now of course, the Dems would NEVER EVER EVER EVER even consider this. Unlike those asshats, we actually care about people. We don't want kids to starve, parents to become desperate, cancer patients to not get treatment, and so on. Even if what we demand, like Gun Control, is supported by 90% of the population, we wouldn't threaten the American people with destroying our economy over it.

We don't take pleasure in our own citizens suffering.

The Tea Party asshats don't give a shit.

The media, the supposed "liberal" media, of course, would blast the Democrats for even considering a maneuver like this. We would be crucified... and rightfully so!!!

But crazy is such the norm for the GOP, all of the media is considering this GOP-manufactured crisis to be "both sides not blinking" and "both sides to blame". The framing has been "those darn Congress people". Never, "the GOP is being fucking outrageous!"

There is a double standard. We don't have any of the crazy and stupid (Gohmert, Bachmann, et al.) that they have, much less allow them to become our standard-bearers. We are Americans who, even at this very moment realize the GOP is digging their own grave, are in pain because of the needless suffering of good people caused by nutjobs hell-bent on pursuing an ideology: even if it means the destruction of our country.

They admitted being "Excited" and "Giddy" about shutting our government down. Last year they said the shutdown threat was all about the deficit. THIS year? They are adding 2 billion A WEEK by some estimates to the deficit because of this shutdown... and all because of their righteous and bold stance to deny people health insurance. Of course, Obamacare is just the new excuse. ONLY AN IDIOT would think that if ACA didn't exist, it wouldn't be some other reason to shut us down.

Next year? Who knows what the excuse will be. All I know is that they will do this again: they will demand concessions to their platform or they get to shut down the government they hate (but feed from). To them its win-win.

Even though this all but guarantees Dem victories next year, it feels like lose-lose to us. Because we have a fucking conscience. We aren't "giddy", we are pissed... and sad.

And 2014 can't come soon enough.

Rick Scott takes credit for 1000 healthcare jobs created by Obamacare…after bashing it!

“I ran on a campaign of getting our state back to work. [The ACA] will be the biggest job-killer ever," -Idiot Rick Scott, Fox and Friends, March 26, 2012

Slick Rick said that last year. That claim was false then (Politifact and Factcheck.org), and now its tangibly false through shear hypocrisy.

Rick Scott was on hand last week to taught HealthPlan Services announcement that they will be adding 1,000 new jobs over 5 years to its Tampa headquarters to help small companies and individuals purchase and manage health insurance.

And all thanks to Obamacare.

HealthPlan CEO Jeffrey Bak said that his firm would "probably not" be expanding if it wasn't for the Affordable Care Act.

Meanwhile, Rick Scott's administration continues to obstruct the Affordable Care Act, going so far as banning federal workers charged with helping the uninsured get health care from Florida government buildings... not to mention refusing to allow the insurance commissioner to negotiate lower rates with companies or refuse rates that are too high with the SOLE PURPOSE of trying to jack up rates so people will blame Obama.

This is just the latest from our governor folks. Worst. Ever.

Your move, Wisconsin.

Florida's AG, Pam Bondi, Bravely Halts Execution....for Interfering with Fundraiser

File this under “This can only happen in Rick Scott’s Florida”. Bondi is known for being a bobblehead immersed in scandal. Last week she took her shallowness to new heights:

Bondi postponed an execution of a man sentenced to death for the killing of an exotic dancer. No, she did not do this because she has a problem with the death penalty. She crows about the number of deaths under her watch and even supports the state’s idiotic “Timely Justice Act” to kill more quickly.

No, she just thought the lethal injection might put a damper on her party/fundraiser, so she actually had the execution rescheduled.

She did apologize for her lapse in judgment and trivializing a critical duty of the AG. That did little for the family, who had already seen the execution postponed twice.

Regardless of your thoughts on the death penalty, what she did was callous and wrong. It also demonstrates the typical priorities of this regime.

Video That Says It All: Rick Scott Vetoes Immensely Popular Young Immigrant Driver License Bill

No wonder he's working overtime on purging voters. He's going to need a lot of suppression to keep the masses from the polls next year.

Please Help Me Stop Rick Scott's New Voter Purge!

Last year, Rick Scott initially targeted about 180,000 voters, many with Latino-sounding last names, before elections supervisors identified mistakes. The list was reduced to 85 after all the errors were found, and exactly one case of voter fraud.

But Scott, desperate to keep Florida red no matter how it looked, attempted to re-start the purge just a few weeks before the November election, costing the state thousands of taxpayer dollars in legal battles. But he could not turn up any more non-citizens.

Elections Supervisors were outraged:

"It was sloppy, it was slapdash and it was inaccurate," said Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards to the Tampa Bay Times. "They were sending us names of people to remove because they were born in Puerto Rico. It was disgusting."

But last year an Hispanic civil rights group and several citizens were able to successfully sue under the Voting Rights Act. This year they won’t be able to.

The purge was the central strategy of Scott’s multi-faceted attack on voting, including harsh penalties for registering people to vote, eliminating early voting, “color-free” Sunday, vote caging, and other despicable assaults.

Scott and his GOP allies successfully discourgaged over 200,000 Floridians from voting, and forced minority voters to wait in lines twice as long.

The Florida GOP EVEN ADMITTED it was all about voter suppression.

Thanks to the US Supreme Courts gutting of the Voting Rights Act, Scott is in full Voldemort mode and wasted no time.

This assault is a priority for the Democratic Governor's Association: Take a moment and add your name to stand against the Florida voter purge:

SIGN THE DGA PETITION

In Rick Scott's Florida, it is easy to vote GOP, but hard to vote Democrat. We need to register as many people as we can. Please get involved:

League of Women Voters: http://thefloridavoter.org/join

Rock the Vote: http://www.rockthevote.com/volunteers/

Florida Dems: http://www.floridadems.org/crmapi/volunteer

Rick Scott Turns Florida into Pollution Paradise

According to the National Resource Defense Council, Florida is now the 2nd most polluted state in the union (thanks Ohio) under Governor Pollution.

It wasn't always this way. Florida used to be a beacon for the environmental movement. Before the dark years of Republican leadership, Florida made headlines for rejecting the massive flood-control projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; restoring the Kissimmee River; and spending billions to save the precious Everglades. Hell, as early as three years ago Crist came up with a plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions and established commissions to combat pollution.

But under the brief and horrible regime of Governor Sick Rott, the commissions were eliminated, agencies charged with protection were slashed or abolished, activists were pursued, budgets of the water-management districts gutted, and anti-environmental legislation that actually CREATED pollution were enacted into law.

Scott has done more to pollute lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, and the drinking water supply in Florida than any governor in history. In three short years we became the second most polluted state in the US.

But Scott won’t rest until we are #1.

The bastard signed several bills that took effect just this month, which include the following:

SB 444: Allows a large increase in “wastewater discharge” into waterways. Because that's just what everyone wants...

SB 682: Removes regulations on hazardous wastes and combustible fossil fuel disposal. (Paint? Oil? Insulation? Now you can just dump it. Our drinking water is a small price to pay for construction companies that have to worry about wasting time with proper disposal.)

HB 999: Flip the numbers on this one upside down to get its true intentions:

- Cuts the fees, regulation, and permit requirements on commercial development of wetlands, marinas, etc. - Ends transparency to environmental permits - Denies individual rights to sue for pollution-related damages from spills - Oh, and now we can have “fracking”! (We'll be #1 by next year!)

That’s just for 2013. The damages he has done since he’s taken over, including the destruction of our natural springs, is unforgivable. It will cost billions if not trillions to undo the environmental damage that Rick Scott has cost us.

But don’t we have a Florida Department of Environmental Protection, SemDem? Can they do nothing?

Yes. They can do nothing. It’s what they are good at. The leader is Jeff Littlejohn, who is the son of Florida Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Chuck Littlejohn. (He was the one responsible for changing the way wetland credits were calculated.)

The little Littlejohn was not put into his post by Rick Scott at the DEP because of any love for the environment. In fact, he has a penchant for firing people in the agency who fucking do their jobs.

Florida’s top state wetlands expert was suspended when she refused to issue a permit on a controversial project by the Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank (formed in 2008 by the Carlyle Group, remember those guys?):

The problem, according to a May 9 memo from Department of Environmental Protection wetlands expert Connie Bersok, is that the owners want the DEP to give them lots of wetland credits for land that isn't wet.

After being told by Deputy Secretary Jeff Littlejohn to ignore the rules she had followed on other permits, Bersok wrote, "I hereby state my objection to the intended agency action and refusal to recommend this permit for issuance."
.....

The application that led to Bersok's suspension came from the Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank, which has repeatedly tussled with permitting officials.

"They're scrappy, these guys," said Glenn Lowe, who lost his job with the St. Johns River Water Management District after he refused to give Highlands Ranch what its owners wanted. Former water district executive director Kirby Green said Lowe and other employees lost their jobs because Gov. Rick Scott's pro-business administration didn't like the way they treated Highlands Ranch.

When questioned about suspending someone for refusing to break state law and give wetlands credits for DRY LAND, Rick Scott was understandably furious--at the wetlands expert for not caving!

The same guy, Littlejohn, earlier this year fired several DEP lawyers for winning their cases:

Lawyer Chris Byrd had just won a court victory on behalf of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. After a four-day trial, a jury had ruled that a Marion County couple had illegally filled in wetlands by an aquatic preserve along the Rainbow River. Instead of celebrating, the DEP attorney felt worried.

"As soon as the verdict came back, I had a sinking feeling," he said. "I thought, 'When (Florida Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary) Jeff Littlejohn hears about this, I'm probably going to lose my job.' "

Sure enough, Littlejohn met with the defendants and listened to their complaints about Byrd. Five months after his win, Byrd was one of four DEP lawyers ousted from their jobs.

The four attorneys were stellar employees—one having won a case before the US Supreme Court. And that was the problem.

According to the article, before Rick Scott’s minions took over, the DEP actually went after people who filled in wetlands. Now, the approach is to grant them an “after-the-fact permit” if they get caught. I. Kid. You. Not.

Human-worm Rick Scott does not give a damn about Florida or any of its citizens. He is all about enriching his corporate masters, including the billionaire energy giants Charles and David Koch who pushed for these lax regulations and tax exemptions. Once he is ousted next year, I have no doubt he will flee the cesspool he helped create. I can only pray for those who remain to clean up his mess.

Rick Perry's Texas: Her body was more regulated than the roller coaster she died on....

Terrible tragedy in Texas today. A woman died falling from a roller coaster in Texas. My heart goes out to the family. Unfortunately, this is not the first time Six Flags in Texas has had a fatality. Won't be the last.

Rick Perry, the anti-regulation asshat who thought it was just peachy to put an explosive fertilizer plant right next to a school and playground, is silent on today’s tragedy.

To be clear, there is no federal oversight of theme parks. The industry is very powerful and convinced Congress they can police themselves, which they do along with being allowed to withhold information on all but the most serious injuries.

But states are allowed to impose their own inspections. Almost all of them do. Only a handful: Utah, Alabama, South Dakota and Mississippi, still don't. Texas used to be among those but relented under public pressure (back when they cared about the public) and agreed to inspect rides once a year under the TDI, the Texas Department of Insurance.

Not all rides, mind you. Go-karts, bounce houses, sure. But high-speed racing machines? Nope. Even though they have killed.

Safety is not a priority for regulation in Texas. Freedom and stuff.

But if you are a poor woman in Texas? Texas legislators are all over you.

Unless you have lived under a rock, you heard that Texas just passed a law that will force dozens of clinics to close. These poor women rely on these clinics for mammograms, STD tests or cancer screenings; but they will be shut out because of legislators want them shut down over 3% of their services. And what of reproductive freedom? Forget it. The new regulations, which were opposed by every doctor group including the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, now force the procedure to take much longer and add medically unnecessary doctor visits.

These draconian measures will not end abortion, but it will force women who are now in some cases 900 miles from an abortion clinic or are too poor to afford one to turn to the black market abortion-inducing pills at flea markets.

Oh, and you now have 20 weeks. No medical reason, just another arbitrary regulation just to make it harder for you. If a girl is raped and held hostage like the ones in Cleveland, she would be forced to give birth now under Texas law.

And if you have any question of the stupidity of the priorities of these legislators, look no further than the day the vote was held. Women were forced to hand over feminine products because they might have caused a “disruption”… (can’t think of any other reason a woman would have one.) But firearms? Those were allowed in.

The one thing I can promise you is there will be no examination, much less any state legislation, concerning the inadequate inspections of theme park and carnival rides in Texas. Just as there was no calls in the state legislature for zoning even after the tragic deaths in West, TX. You see, the GOP Texas conservatives don’t care about life, don’t care about safety, and sure as hell don’t care about helping poor folks.

They care about controlling sex.

That is what gets special sessions in Texas. That is what gets regulated in Texas.

Apparently the only thing they want to regulate.

Rick Scott Spends 500K Just to Piss Off Women

For those few left in this state who will admit to voting for Rick Scott, one justification was "yeah, he's a crook, but at least he's got bizzzzness savvy".

Let me dissuade you of any remaining hint of competence.

I give you Rick Scott, who along with his "Enterprise Florida", paid $205,000 for a new logo/brand to lure companies to the Sunshine State.

TA-DA!!



Rick Scott then proceeded to spend $380,000 on an advertising blitz to promote this piece of $*&+.

Yet besides the obvious question of "Why the hell did this cost so damn much", there were other, bigger problems with the logo.

Namely that the logo's super clever orange necktie isn't exactly appealing to women executives. This is particularly offensive since Florida ranks 4th in the nation for woman-owned businesses and outpaces the national average by nearly 50 percent.

More than one columnist has suggested adding to the tagline: "Florida is the perfect climate for business... if you're a man.

The chief marketing officer for Enterprise Florida vigorously defended this logo, saying "the agency would never intentionally do anything to set out to offend women."

(I'm no marketing guru like these guys, but I'm pretty sure if a rollout of a campaign has to include the words "would never intentionally do anything to offend"--is probably an indication it wasn't the best choice.)

OH.. and this being the Scott administration, you know this gets a lot worse.

The winning company? The ONLY FREAKING OUT-OF-STATE firm that bid!:

Huffington Post

Despite a mission to "facilitate job growth for Florida’s businesses and citizens," Enterprise Florida paid Nashville, Tennessee firm North Star Destination Strategies $205,000...The only bid from out of state

Wow. The only thing that would make that smart even worse IS THIS:

North Star's pitch was $76,000 higher than Tampa’s woman-owned ChappellRoberts, the next closest competitor, reports Biz Journals.

You read that right. A woman-owned business, right here in Florida, lost out to a Tennessee company which significantly overbid them.

But to be fair, if you really want a sexist logo, you never let dames do it.

Despite being offensive to local businesses and women, what's even worse is that it just plain sux. Don't take my word: the former global brand designer for Procter & Gamble said it isn't even effective:

NBC News

"A generic brand statement as a tagline is a throw away, particularly when it is a blatant overstatement. In my opinion, 'The Perfect Climate For Business' provides no relevant point of difference for CEOs to associate with Florida," he wrote. "Positioning Florida as the perfect business climate is puffery."

Plus, it's just plain outdated in an age when many businesses — particularly in steamy Florida — are "rejecting ties as required dress code," he wrote.

Rick Scott and Enterprise Florida may be fine with it despite the blowback, but at least the good ole boys at the firm got the message and decided to include some women in their release of the video.

And by women, I mean in the background. Sometimes. And just their legs.... (look. real. hard.)

Rove declares War on the Tea Party

After his infamous meltdown on election night, you'd think Rove would have the good sense to lay low. But no, I present his latest failure scheme: The Conservative Victory Project!

The effort would put a new twist on the Republican-vs.-Republican warfare that has consumed the party’s primary races in recent years. In effect, the establishment is taking steps to fight back against Tea Party groups and other conservative organizations that have wielded significant influence in backing candidates who ultimately lost seats to Democrats in the general election....

The Conservative Victory Project, which is backed by Karl Rove and his allies who built American Crossroads into the largest Republican super PAC of the 2012 election cycle, will start by intensely vetting prospective contenders for Congressional races to try to weed out candidates who are seen as too flawed to win general elections.

Ohhhh. The Tea Party seemed like such a good idea back in 2010. Beck, Palin and other charismatic idiots stoked the flames... scary black man, brown people wanting dignity, socialism, gubmit comin' to take my guns, illegitimate birthdays, et al. Oh, how they hated Obama. Failed right-wing radicals combined with paranoid gun nuts and racist hate groups to form the NEW conservative and the NEW proud face of the GOP: the Tea Party patriot.

Republicans not only loved this idea, they bankrolled it. Hell, up until last October Karl Rove, the Koch brothers, and hate groups like the Family Research Council all banded together with the Teabaggers to fight Obama and his Democratic hordes.

The Tea Party allowed the GOP to pander to the lowest common denominators: racism, bigotry, paranoia and hate--but without sullying the Establishment GOP. It was perfectly OK if Beck said Obama hates "white culture", but you didn't hear Boehner or Cantor saying that.. it was just implied. The Tea Party outright called Obama a Kenyan , but asshats like Boehner and Cantor would just say they "take him at his word". (wink, wink.)

The GOP establishment had their useful idiots, and the right wing media conmen who stoked their hate raked in millions. It was win - win.

Until it wasn't.

Hate and bigotry are the devil's tools. The GOP in their lust for power played with those... but there is a problem in selling out your soul for short-term power.

The Tea Party has taken on a life of its own. They don't just hate Democrats anymore, they hate Establishment Republicans with just as much fervor. Anyone who is not "pure" of hate heart gets primaried, and either:

1. Goes down in defeat for what should have been a GOP victory, and/or,

2. Brings national embarrassment for the GOP brand. (See West, Walsh, Bachmann, Akin, etc.)

Republican moneymen bankrolled this movement, and Fox News dedicated countless hours hyping it all up. But now the movement is costing them precious votes--and power.

So the establishment is desperately trying to put the genie back in the bottle.

Erickson begs his sycophants to calm the fuck down. Rupert Murdock tells Fox News to stop supporting them. But its too late.

Enter Karl Rove. The so-called "genius". His solution? What else. More money...

The biggest donors in the Republican Party are financing [this] new group...

Yes. Another SuperPAC conning Republican donors out of their money. Because that worked so well three months ago.

Tons of crappy attack ads won't work. (And if Karl is running things, you know they are crap.) Who are you running them for? Your base? I thought Karl was the one always talking about energizing the base. How is it going to work with him now attacking the base?

I don't now how this is going to play out, but its not going to be pretty. And for once, just once, I am glad to be of the party that is not the hot mess.

6:20 AM PT: See Lefty Coaster's Rec diary on the issue: http://www.dailykos.com/...

Rick Scott claims he "didn't have anything to do" with voter suppression law that he signed!

In 2011, the worst election law in modern history since the Jim Crow era was passed right here in Florida.

Getting fined thousands of dollars for turning in voter registration forms late. Early voting cut (which led to lines as long as 9 fucking hours in South Florida). Provisional ballots for women who changed their names or college students (in other words, likely Democrats). Voter caging. Forbidding video to catch said caging, and so on and so on.

It was disgusting and rushed through the State Legislature. Floridians called on Governor Scott to veto the bill.

Scott told the critics to go fuck themselves:

Ignoring the objections of critics, Gov. Rick Scott signed into law on Thursday a contentious elections bill almost certainly headed to court.

And it did head to Court. And Rick Scott used OUR taxpayer money to vigorously defend this monstrosity. His administration spent more than $500,000 in legal fees to defend these anti-voting measures.

Oh yeah... and we later learned from the former state GOP chairman Jim Greer that whole purpose of the law was in fact to discourage minority voters.

So Scott got the law he wanted. Only, for 2012, it backfired. Big time.

People were willing to stand in lines until the wee hours of the morning. Elections officials in South Florida were so overwhelmed they shut down leaving people screaming "LET US VOTE"! (That still gets me that that happened right here in America.)

But ass-head Rick Scott STILL wouldn't allow one fucking hour of extension despite the pleas from election officials--prompting Dems to file an emergency lawsuit to circumvent him.

My point here is that this WAS Rick Scott's law. He called for it. He signed it. He defended it. And even when it was clear that it was hurting Florida citizens, he STILL fought for it. After the election, he said the law was "the right thing to do!"

Until last week. Suddenly realizing that he has to win re-election to continue to be governor, and simultaneously thinking we are all fucking idiots, he tried something new.

NO, he didn't apologize and promise to make it all right. He now claims he had absolutely nothing to do with his signature law.

Scott met with a group of black legislators last week. (At least he managed to not insult them this time.) They were furious with him for many reasons, but mostly for his infamous voter suppression law. Scott, being the masterful diplomat (snark), responded:

Scott agreed with black lawmakers that the 2011 election law contributed to the chaos at the polls in November, including long lines all over the state and up to seven-hour waits in Miami-Dade. But Scott, who is seeking re-election in 2014, said it was largely a decision of the Legislature. "It was not my bill," Scott said. "We've got to make changes, I agree. … The Legislature passed it. I didn't have anything to do with passing it."

Yeah. He said that. He had nothing to do with passing it. I'm still trying to comprehend why stories like this don't make waves. Try to imagine Obama telling a group of Republicans that he agrees with them that the Affordable Care Act is really bad and that he had absolutely nothing to do with passing it. Would he still have any credibility left as a politician? How is it that Rick Scott gets away with this crap!? So OK. Scott was just a helpless bystander to this travesty. Nothing could have been done. Got it. So naturally, he is going to push to reverse it - right? Nope. He steadfastly REFUSES to restore the number of days for early voting. In fact, he is now proposing a scheme to give "flexibility" to elections supervisors, meaning they would be allowed to limit early voting to EVEN LESS time than we have now! During the meeting he wouldn't even agree to revisit his harshest restrictions in the nation regarding the voting rights of citizens who have already served their time in prison:

Once you're out as a felon, you should spend time making sure you're doing the right thing before you get those rights back.

Scott went on to say that restricting their voting rights is somehow why Florida's crime rate has dropped. So everything is good, except for when everything isn't, and Rick Scott is blameless regardless. I guess I should be happy for some measure of progress. At least he didn't blame Obama this time.

Mental Health/School Safety Funding CUT to Pay for Gun Maker Tax Subsidies (Thanks Rick)

The rest of the nation may be looking for ways to stop gun violence. Here in Florida, our GOP overlords pride themselves in doing the opposite.

Florida now ranks 49th in mental health care funding, mostly due to multi-million dollar line-item cuts last year that targeted the mentally ill. (For cripes sakes, even though we are the fourth largest state, Mississippi now spends three times as much in mental health than we do!)

But we rank #1 in gun ownership! Yay us!

I have mentioned in previous posts how the NRA writes legislation and gets an average of one new gun-friendly law passed every year. The laws get wackier and wackier as it gets easier and easier to buy weapons; but it has gotten damn near impossible to get any help obtaining mental health care in Florida.

Well done, Rick Scott:

In 2012, a tough budget year when the Legislature cut funding for school safety by $1.8 million and Gov. Rick Scott vetoed $5.7 million for mental health programs, lawmakers were able to find more than $10 million for economic incentives that went to violent film productions, bloody video games and gun manufacturers.

Our Central Florida Recovery House and Mental Health Center were cut by $1.6 million-- but that same amount went to subsidize gun manufacturer Colt to bring us 63 jobs. (At that rate, since Rick Scott promised us 7 million jobs when elected, I guess we can expect to pony up $182 billion?)

Then we gave taxpayer money to a gun parts maker and to Kel Tec (which manufactured the gun used to kill Trayvon along with several assault rifles used in recent mass shootings). We also generously ensured they had plenty of customers due to the dozens of gun-friendly laws passed, which allowed us to become the first state in the nation to pass 1 million concealed weapons users. (Yay us!)

Adam Putnam, our Agriculture Commissioner, was beaming with pride about that statistic and even held a press conference when we hit the millionth concealed weapons' permit holder.

He'd still be talking about that if a certain incident didn't overshadow that two days later on December 14th.

The GOP legislators who are desperately trying to shield guns from any responsibility in gun violence are trying to lay blame on video game and film manufacturers. Since tens of millions of Florida taxpayer incentive money went to entertainment companies that make violent films and games, that rings hollow as well. At the very least, since Rick Scott has no trouble handing our money over to these characters, he could at least expand Medicaid coverage and give desperately needed help to thousands of Floridians suffering mental health disorders under his regime. But don't expect that anytime soon. Our GOP lawmakers can just retreat to their gated communities and let everyone else deal with their consequences. Oh, we are number one in gated communities as well.

Yay us!!

The Cruel Tale of Rick Scott's Rescue Puppy

I've said this before, I'll say it again.

Rick Scott is a fucking ASS-HOLE!

Asked last week what had happened to [Rick Scott's adopted rescue dog], Scott's current and former communications director refused to answer...

But he wouldn't say where the dog was and accused reporters of "surfing some old Facebook or website pages.'' At one point an exasperated reporter asked Burgess if he had killed the dog, and Burgess denied ever killing a dog, but still wouldn't say where Reagan was.

Backing up....

Right after Rick Scott defeated perennial loser Bill McCollum to win the GOP nomination for governor in 2010, apparently some highly-paid consultant said he needed to look a lot less like the evil man that he truly is and adopt a rescue pet.

So it came to be. Rick Scott made a HUGE deal on his candidate Facebook page that he had rescued a puppy Labrador Retriever. Bastard even scarred it by naming it Reagan (after holding a "fun" contest): "The Scott family is proud to announce that the name (chosen by you) for their newly adopted pup is Reagan! Thanks to everyone who participated in the fun contest".

YAY! What fun!

Florida teabag wingnuts took to the comments page praising him for naming him after their conserva-demigod. Others took the mandatory practice of slamming Obama for some crap like Bo being an elitist puppy. (Yeah! That fucking Obama and his dog that everyone still knows is alive, safe and cared for!)

The puppy was in the newspapers up till the day before Scott's swearing-in ceremony.

That was the last time people saw him.

He then disappeared.

When the Tampa Bay Times dared to ask where the dog was, they got dodge after dodge. Burgess first said he was desperately "working on an answer". OH...not because they gave a shit about what happened to the dog but because of the "potential PR nightmare if the Tampa Bay Times doesn't receive a photo of Reagan next to the today's copy of the Tampa Bay Times."

Yes. He wrote that. I don't know what's worse. That he expects us to believe he had to "research" that he was missing? Or that he was less worried about the poor dog being gone than he was about this turning into "Seamus II". (Or Pam Bondi's "puppygate" all over again. Our rightwing AG was in hot water for stealing a dog from a Katrina family.)

Burgess tried and tried but just couldn't determine if the dog was really missing or just playing a 2 year-long game of hide and seek or had somehow buried himself after accidentally murdering himself. Failing any good spin, he referred all questions to a new comm director, Melissa Sellers.

She brilliantly answered that she was "far too busy" to answer any questions about some dumb dog. (After which she assuredly must have said something like "And that's the end of that chapter!").

Then another spokesman took the prize by pretending Rick Scott had only ever had the one dog, Tallee.

Fed up with the embarrassing fiasco that is Scott's communications team, the Tampa Bay Times bypassed them all and just decided to ask the fucking governor himself, whom none of these redstate geniuses ever bothered to brief with their spin.

Essentially, Rick Scott said the dog was a terror (he liked to bark a lot) and that he just had to get rid of him.

Another GOP politician treating a dog the same way he treats people.

SO to sum up, Scott needed a campaign prop. He didn't need it after the election. Almost immediately after he was elected, he got rid of him. And everyone on his team thought everyone was too dumb to notice. (They have a point... we did elect this asshat to our highest office.)

It's a sad story in many ways, but don't feel too bad. At least the poor thing isn't with Rick Scott anymore.

2:56 PM PT: So where is the dog now? Depends on who you believe. According to Fox News, Rick Scott gave the dog to back to his former owner. The Raw Story says he went back to the rescue shelter. The Times article reports he went to a private business in Naples called All Pets Grooming and Boarding. And the Jacksonville paper just admitted they don't know where the hell the dog is. No one does. I just hope he's okay.

Satan Worshippers Hold Rally for Rick Scott

Just in case you had any doubts about Rick Scott, Here you go